The best community colleges provide an effective springboard into higher education, offering students high-quality two-year degree programs in a wide range of disciplines. The top-rated community colleges in Maryland offer a broad selection of associate’s degrees, affordable tuition rates, and strong partnerships with public four-year schools so that students can easily transfer their credits into accredited bachelor’s degree programs.
The Old Line State has 46 colleges and universities, 30 of which are public and 16 of which are private. The United States Naval Academy offers programs in physical sciences, aeronautical engineering, and naval architecture. The largest private institution, Johns Hopkins University, has just over 24,000 students and a tuition rate of $54,000. Located in Baltimore, this research university is known for its science and medical discoveries.
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The University of Maryland in College Park boasts over 35,000 students with a price tag of $11,000. The school has 15 campuses, and students can choose from areas of study like criminal justice, communications, physics, and sociology. The most affordable school in the state, Baltimore City Community College comes in at $3,000 and has 37 associate degree programs to choose from. Maryland also provides loan forgiveness programs for its residents, including those for dentists and public servants. Students can also check out the Maryland SmartBuy Home Buyer Assistance and Forgiveness Program, where eligible applicants can receive up to 15% of the home purchase price toward outstanding student loan, to be paid off as part of closing.
Maryland is a state bursting with history, from its numerous museums to its historic battlegrounds. Students who attend school in Maryland can explore the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Park and walk the same streets as many influential Marylanders, including Francis Scott Key, Babe Ruth, Billie Holiday, and Thurgood Marshall.
Whether you’re looking to earn an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree, Maryland offers its students history, legacy, and numerous degree paths.
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
There are 16 community colleges in Maryland. The following list shows the best community colleges in the state.
Tuition + fees
$9K
Graduation
27%
Student body
7K
Anne Arundel Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$10K
Graduation
28%
Student body
14K
Montgomery College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$3K
Graduation
18%
Student body
3K
Baltimore City Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Graduation
27%
Student body
<1K
Garrett College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
35%
Student body
2K
Hagerstown Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
29%
Student body
4K
College of Southern Maryland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
28%
Student body
1K
Chesapeake College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
33%
Student body
3K
Frederick Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
39%
Student body
2K
Carroll Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
26%
Student body
6K
Howard Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Graduation
14%
Student body
10K
Community College of Baltimore County’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
16%
Student body
7K
Prince George's Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
31%
Student body
3K
Harford Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
23%
Student body
1K
Cecil College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$6K
Graduation
19%
Student body
2K
Wor–Wic Community College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$8K
Graduation
27%
Student body
2K
Allegany College of Maryland’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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